One of Diponegoro University’s Japanese Language and Culture Student Association (Himawari) program, Kouryuukai, or can be defined as cultural exchange workshop, was held offline on Saturday, October 28, 2023. Successfully attracting all the participants enthusiast, Kouryuukai was held in Room C.1 and The Joglo Kembar of Faculty of Humanities, Diponegoro University. With two different cultures, Kouryuukai presenting Koide Ryoko Sensei as a speaker of Japanese Culture, Shodou, and Mrs. Monica Suprihatin and Sanggar Batik Arjuna Team as a speaker of Indonesian Culture, Batik.
Kouryuukai’s first session was of Japanese culture, shodou. Koide Ryoko Sensei, shodou’s guest speaker, is a graduate of the Calligraphy Department, Yasuda Women’s University, who has achieved various achievements and a teacher’s license in shodou. Currently, Ryoko Sensei is a calligraphy teacher at a company called ‘Ryokeikai’. This session begins with an exciting explanation and some mind-blowing facts about shodou. Ryoko Sensei also introduces the kanji letters that will be practiced afterwards. Shodou practice begins with shodou tools’ introduction, then continues with an explanation of the shodou steps. Kouryuukai participants were very active, moreover, several participants enthusiastically asked Ryoko Sensei about steps or tips and tricks how to writing of their favorite kanji letters.
The second session of Kouryuukai was Indonesian culture representative, batik, which was held after the lunch break. Kouryuukai presented Mrs. Monica Suprihatin, one of the managers of the Semarang Batik Village, and also a team from the Sanggar Batik Arjuna Semarang as second session’s guest speaker. The batik session began with an introduction to the various types of batik that developed and created in Semarang. Moving to the Joglo Kembar, the participants were guided by the Sanggar Batik Arjuna Team to created and creating a beautiful batik lukis with their unique color palettes. The batik making session also received great enthusiasm from the participants. At the end of the batik session, Mrs. Monica once again explained about batik creations in the Semarang, conveyed her impressions about Kouryuukai and symbolically gave a present to one participant with the best batik lukis creations as an appreciation.
Kouryuukai was attended by approximately 15 students and lecturers from the Japanese Language and Culture Undergraduate Study Program. The cultures that have been showcased in Kouryuukai is not only an interesting thing, but also indicate that every culture’s existence and originality must be protected by the younger generation. Both batik and shodou must be well maintained by the youngers, in order that both countries can proudly introduce it as their beloved culture.